Suddenly, Not Turning Up Until An Hour & A Half Later Is 'Proportionate'?

Chris Colledge, 54, who is also the area’s neighbourhood watch co-ordinator, said he was told he would be knifed by a man camping at the clifftop beauty spot at 10.30pm on Monday after he asked him to clear away his litter.

He said: “The man sounded very drunk and angry, so I didn’t want to hang around.

“I called the police immediately because I was worried anyone else passing might be in danger.”

As you do! And did they race to the rescue, Tasers at the ready?

Reader, they did not:

Mr Colledge said police arrived at midnight, an hour and a half after the first call was made.
When he rang the station to ask if an officer was on the way, he said he was told it was “change over” time and someone would arrive eventually.

To, you know, maybe put some tape up and call the coroner...

Inspector Dean O’Connor of Bournemouth Police said: “The response by officers was proportionate to this incident…

Do you need a new dictionary, Inspector?

…– the campers were moved on and officers visited the informant.

“The situation regarding tents being erected on the green remains a matter for the council and we work with the council on a daily basis on this issue.

“Officers in Bournemouth continue to drive down crime and antisocial behaviour and figures are continuing to fall.

“Today’s figures show a 10 per cent decrease in crime and a 13 per cent decrease in antisocial behaviour since this time last year.”

Well, yes. I expect people have given up calling you.

Now, normally, in a local paper's comment section, you expect to see some odd views. But this one was rather odd indeed:

Yes, it's clearly all his fault, picking on the poor knife-wielding 'victim' like that...

And that wasn't even the oddest comment!

I think we all remember that sermon from Sunday School, don't we? 'Give thy charity to the knife-wielding drunken squatters.'

Update: Perseverance and publicity works!

Police have stepped up patrols after a residents’ association chairman said he was threatened with a knife while walking his dog.

Chris said: “I am very relieved that the police have finally taken on board my suggestion that we need more police patrols in the area.

“We had another incident at the weekend where people threw burning coals over the side of the cliff and the whole area could have caught ablaze if the firefighters hadn’t arrived so quickly.

“This episode just epitomises that we really do need more patrols to tackle the problem head-on.”

Who, apart from the rather odd commenters of the Bournemouth local newspaper, could doubt that?

I'm afraid those phrases do rather conjure up the image of a prod-nosing busybody though don't they?

Perhaps, as suggested in the Paper's comments, the Police have heard the cry of "WOLF!" rather too often from this public spirited citizen and determined that they weren't letting their Chinkies go cold for nothing again

Dear Julia,apart from the cutting and pasting of this article please can you tell me how many officers parade on a night shift in Bournemouth?How many of those officers were available at the time of this call? Don't know? Neither do I but you have assumed the police turned up late on purpose.Please then link it to an unrelated story-in italics-from say Aberdeen where the police didn't attend straight away and something bad happened.When Aunty Theresa and Uncle Dave tell you that the "front-line wont be affected" they are lying.I can promise you that from my own experience.Jaded

"Dear Julia,apart from the cutting and pasting of this article please can you tell me how many officers parade on a night shift in Bournemouth?How many of those officers were available at the time of this call?"

It's a report of a threat with a knife. That usually brings out the cavalry these days, eager to try out their shiny new tasers, doesn't it?